VW I.D. R Pikes Peak REVEALED as an ELECTRIC 671bhp Pikes Peak Hill Climb Basher

The Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak has been revealed as a four-wheel drive electric monster of a car with 671bhp and 0-62mph in 2.25 seconds, aiming to conquer the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.

Last month we revealed Volkswagen were planning to take on the Pikes Peak Hillclimb with a new electric car designed just for the task – the VW I.D. R Pikes Peak – delivering a halo performance car for the range of I.D Electric cars in the process. And now it’s been revealed.

The electric super sports I.D has been designed not to deliver a massive top speed or go on for miles on a single charge, but to deliver its power quickly from the dense lithium ion batteries designed to release power quickly to power the two electric motors – one on each axle – which together produce 671bhp and can get the 1100kg I.D. R to 62mph in just 2.25 seconds.

VW say some 20 per cent of the energy required to tackle Pikes Peak will come from energy recovered under barking, which considering Pikes Peak sets out to destroy challengers with its 156 turns through its 12.42 mile climb is no surprise.

Pikes Peak veteran Robert Dumas – three-time winner and a winner at Le Mans too – will be behind the wheel when the I.D. R takes on Pikes Peak in June, with VW aiming to smash the existing 8:57.118 record time.

VW’s Dr. Frank Welsch said:

Volkswagen’s goal is to reach the pinnacle of electromobility with the I.D. family. As such, Volkswagen’s involvement on Pikes Peak not only sets the trend for our future in motorsport, but is also of great symbolic significance in the truest sense.

Customers have always benefitted from the findings made in motorsport, and we expect to take these findings and use them as a valuable impetus for the development of future I.D. models. The hill climb on Pikes Peak will definitely be a real acid test for the electric drive.

The Pikes Peak Hillclimb Event takes place in Colorado Springs on 24 June 2018.